Khrome

Khrome makes personalized storybooks from a family photo. The child and family become the cast, then the app writes, illustrates, and exports a print-ready hardcover you can also order. You can find it at khrome.ai.

Why I built this

I wanted to play around with image models to test out their magic and limitations. At the same time, I wanted to create something that brings digital products into the physical world. I was inspired by how much my family and friends' kids love books, and I knew it would mean something when kids read books where they see themselves as characters, along with their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other loved ones.

Character consistency

One big challenge in making this possible is character consistency. Currently, AI is pretty good at making images of people in different styles that resemble those people really well. This becomes exponentially more inconsistent when multiple pages need to (1) make characters look and dress the same and (2) keep the environment, props, and other parts of the story consistent enough to make it feel real. Khrome keeps all the characters looking consistent, and important scenes stay consistent throughout the story. Not 100% yet. There are some drifts from time to time, but it gets better and better as new image models come out.

Story writing

One interesting thing I learned while making this is how differently models perceive what good "children's stories" are. For example, GPT models LOVE ending stories with something like "And the kid had the best day ever," "and they all lived happily ever after," or "they learned that family is what really matters".... They also avoid any real conflict or hurdle the main kid character might face, like having the kid fail at the thing they wanted to do. I found that Sonnet is the best model for this app. It balances story writing that is engaging, educational, and fun to read.